Strong effort puts Redmann and Saxton in playoffs at beach volleyball world championships

ROME – A strong effort by Christian Redmann of Toronto and Ben Saxton of Calgary against the third seeds from Brazil have put the Canadian pair in the playoff round at the world championships in beach volleyball.

Redmann and Saxton lost 23-21, 17-21, 15-11 to Marcio Araujo and Ricardo Alex Costa Santos, the Olympic silver medallists. The Canadians finish the round robin with a 1-2 record for third place in group C. They advance by being among the eighth best third place finishers thanks to their solid total points for and against ratio of 1.00. The top-two in each of the 12 pools all advance as well to the round of 32.

Playoff competition got underway for the women and Heather Bansley and Liz Maloney, both of Toronto, lost to third-seeds and defending world champions Jennifer Kessy and April Ross of the U.S., 21-14, 21-14. The Canadians place 17th.

‘’It was a good result for us and a great experience,’’ tweeted Bansley.

Seoul Challenger

Meanwhile in Seoul at the Seoul Challenger women’s beach volleyball competition, Kacie MacTavish of Sharon, Ont., and Julie Rodrigue of Quebec City have advanced to the third round. The pair, seeded sixth, had a first round bye then defeated Hiroyo Kaneda and Megumi Murakami of Japan 22-20, 21-18.

Ashley Voth of Winnipeg and Jamie Broder of Victoria lost their first round match but had a bye in the repechage round to stay in contention.